How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Rankite is independent; if a vendor ever pays for a featured spot, that listing is clearly labeled Partner.
Key takeaways
- DIY landlords can collect rent for free with Apartments.com or Avail's Unlimited plan. The free options work best under 10 units; fees and limits push growing landlords toward paid plans.
- Flat-rate tools like RentRedi ($19.95/month, unlimited units) and TenantCloud ($15/month billed annually) keep costs predictable. Per-unit platforms like AppFolio scale with your portfolio but cost more as you grow.
- Watch who pays the transaction fees. ACH is usually cheap or free, but card payments run 2.75% to 3.5%, and some platforms charge the landlord while others pass fees to tenants.
- Professional managers need more than payments: accounting, owner portals, maintenance and reporting. That is where Buildium, AppFolio, RentCafe and Zego earn their higher prices.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 TenantCloud | DIY landlords who want one low flat fee | $15 per month (billed annually, Starter) | Free trial (14 days) |
 RentRedi | Simple all-in-one landlord management | $19.95 per month (unlimited units) | Free trial |
 Buildium | Professional managers with full accounting | $62 per month (Essential) | Free trial (14 days) |
 AppFolio | Larger portfolios with automation needs | From $1.49 per unit/month ($298 monthly minimum) | No |
 Avail | Free start for independent landlords | Free (Unlimited); $9 per unit/month (Unlimited Plus) | Yes |
 Apartments.com | Free rent collection tied to listings | Free for landlords | Yes |
 RentCafe | Yardi-powered resident experience at scale | See website | No |
 Zego | Payments plus resident engagement for multifamily | See website | No |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best rent collection software
Starting price$15 per month (billed annually, Starter)
Free planFree trial (14 days)
TenantCloud is built for independent landlords who want a real management platform without per-unit pricing anxiety. Plans are priced by active leases rather than units: Starter is $15 per month billed annually (or $25 month-to-month) for up to 10 leases, Growth is $29.17 for 30 leases, and Pro is $50 for 60 leases. Unlimited properties are included on every plan, so scattered-site landlords are not punished for how their portfolio is organized.
The feature set covers the full DIY workflow: online rent payments with autopay, listings, applications, tenant screening, maintenance requests, lease templates and e-signatures. Plans scale up sensibly, adding inspections, message boards, tax reports and bank reconciliation as you move to Growth and Pro.
The honest trade-offs start with fees. Tenants pay per-transaction ACH fees on the lower plans (around $1.50 to $1.95 depending on plan), and card payments cost 3.5% plus $0.30. There is no permanent free tier. And landlords who need serious accounting will find the bookkeeping lighter than Buildium or AppFolio. For straightforward rent collection and management at a flat price, it is one of the best values here.
What we like- Low flat rate with unlimited properties
- Rent payments, listings, screening and maintenance in one place
- Pricing based on leases not units
Watch out for- No free tier, only a 14-day trial
- Tenant-paid transaction fees on lower plans
- Accounting is basic compared with Buildium
Starting price$19.95 per month (unlimited units)
Free planFree trial
RentRedi keeps things refreshingly simple: one plan with every feature, priced by billing frequency rather than by units. Month-to-month is $19.95 per month, while annual billing drops it to about $9 per month. Unlimited units, unlimited tenants, rent collection, listings, applications, screening, maintenance, lease signing and two-way messaging all come standard.
That simplicity is the selling point. There is no tier comparison spreadsheet, no per-unit math, and no feature gates. The mobile apps are well regarded, tenants can pay from their phones, and rent payments can be reported to credit bureaus to help tenants build credit. Customer support is consistently praised in reviews.
The catch is accounting. The base plan does not include the accounting module; it is an add-on from about $15 per month for up to three units, and there is no automated QuickBooks Online sync (exports are manual). Landlords who run their books in QuickBooks will feel that gap. If rent collection and tenant management matter more than bookkeeping, RentRedi is hard to beat at this price.
What we like- One flat price, unlimited units and tenants
- Every feature on every plan
- Mobile apps for landlords and tenants
Watch out for- Accounting is a paid add-on, not included
- No QuickBooks Online auto-sync
- Rent reporting to credit bureaus is tenant-opted
Starting price$62 per month (Essential)
Free planFree trial (14 days)
Buildium is the workhorse property management platform for professional managers, and its pricing reflects that: Essential starts at $62 per month, Growth at $192 and Premium at $400, with prices rising as unit counts grow. Every tier includes accounting, maintenance, online portals, task management and leasing, and all plans come with a 14-day free trial.
Where Buildium separates from the DIY tools is the back office. Full general-ledger accounting, bank reconciliation, 1099 e-filing, owner statements, trust accounting and a dedicated owner portal are built in. Online rent collection supports ACH, cards and autopay, with incoming EFT fees of $1.99 per transaction on Essential dropping to $1.35 on Growth and free for the first year on Premium.
The honest math is that $62 is a starting figure, not a ceiling. Your actual price depends on units, and the per-transaction fee schedule rewards higher tiers enough that busy portfolios often save more on fees than the upgrade costs. Implementation and onboarding can also carry fees. For managers who need real accounting and owner reporting, Buildium remains the benchmark.
What we like- Full accounting suite with trust accounting and 1099 e-filing
- Resident and owner portals
- Scales from small managers to large firms
Watch out for- Prices rise with unit count on top of the base
- Transaction fees differ by tier
- 14-day trial is short for a system this deep
Starting priceFrom $1.49 per unit/month ($298 monthly minimum)
Free planNo
AppFolio is the premium pick for property management companies that run on automation. Its Core plan is priced around $1.49 per unit per month with a $298 monthly minimum, scaling through Plus and Max tiers as portfolios grow. The platform automates leasing workflows, accounting, maintenance triage and resident communications with a level of polish that shows in user satisfaction scores.
Rent collection is one piece of a much bigger system: online payments, autopay, applicant screening, vacancy marketing, maintenance coordination and owner reporting all live in one place. AI features handle maintenance triage and rental pricing insights, and the mobile apps are among the best in the category for both managers and residents.
The pricing structure is the honest catch. Per-unit pricing with monthly minimums means small portfolios pay a high effective rate, and implementation can run from $1,000 to $10,000 for smaller companies. There is no free tier and no self-serve signup; you buy through sales. AppFolio is excellent for companies with hundreds of units and a team to run it. For a landlord with a duplex, it is the wrong tool.
What we like- Deep automation across leasing, accounting and maintenance
- Strong AI features
- Polished mobile experience
Watch out for- Per-unit pricing with minimums gets expensive for smaller portfolios
- Sales-led with implementation costs
- Overkill under 50 units
Starting priceFree (Unlimited); $9 per unit/month (Unlimited Plus)
Free planYes
Avail, owned by Realtor.com, is the most generous free option on this list. The Unlimited plan costs landlords nothing and includes unlimited units, listing syndication, applications with TransUnion screening, state-specific leases with e-signing, rent collection, maintenance tracking and bookkeeping. For a landlord with a few doors, it is a complete toolkit at zero cost.
The paid Unlimited Plus plan is $9 per unit per month and adds FastPay next-day payouts, waived bank transfer fees, customizable leases and a branded property website. It makes sense once payout speed and customization matter more than the per-unit cost.
The free plan's catch is fee placement. Tenants pay $2.50 per ACH transfer on the free plan, and card payments cost tenants 3.5% on either plan. If your tenants mostly pay by card, they will feel the cost, and you may hear about it. Avail also lacks the trust accounting and team features professional managers need. For DIY landlords, though, the free tier is genuinely hard to argue with.
What we like- Free Unlimited plan with no unit cap
- State-specific leases and screening included
- Backed by Realtor.com
Watch out for- Tenants pay $2.50 per ACH transfer on the free plan
- Card payments cost 3.5%
- Plus pricing climbs fast with many units
Starting priceFree for landlords
Free planYes
Apartments.com Rental Manager gives landlords free online rent collection as part of its listings platform. ACH payments are free for both sides, credit and debit payments cost tenants a 2.75% fee, and automated rent reminders, autopay and automatic late fees come standard. If your property is listed on Apartments.com, turning on rent collection is nearly effortless.
The marketplace connection is the real advantage. Your listing reaches millions of renters, applications and screening flow into the same dashboard as payments, and the whole thing costs the landlord nothing. Express Pay speeds up payouts for renters in good standing at no extra cost.
The limits are speed and depth. Standard ACH payouts take two to five business days, which is slower than some competitors' next-day options. Accounting and reporting are basic compared with TenantCloud or Buildium, and the tools are designed around filling vacancies on the Apartments.com network rather than running a management business. For landlords with one or two rentals who list there anyway, it is the obvious free choice.
What we like- Completely free for landlords, including ACH
- Huge built-in renter audience from the marketplace
- Automated reminders and late fees
Watch out for- Payouts take 2 to 5 business days
- Limited accounting and reporting
- Tools exist to serve the listings marketplace first
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
RentCafe is Yardi's resident-facing platform, built for multifamily operators already running Yardi Voyager or Yardi Breeze. It provides online rent payments, resident portals, maintenance requests, communication tools and marketing websites, all wired directly into Yardi's accounting and operations backbone.
For large operators, that integration is the point. Payments reconcile automatically, resident data flows between leasing and accounting without exports, and the platform scales to thousands of units. If your company already runs Yardi, RentCafe is less a choice than the natural extension of the system.
Everything else is the honest catch. Pricing is custom and enterprise-grade, implementation is a real project with onboarding costs, and there is no self-serve path. Independent landlords and small managers should not be here; the DIY and mid-market tools above do the same job at a fraction of the cost and complexity. RentCafe belongs on this list because at multifamily scale, it is the standard.
What we like- Deep Yardi ecosystem integration
- Full resident portal with payments, maintenance and communication
- Proven at large multifamily scale
Watch out for- Enterprise pricing with no published rates
- Implementation is a project, not a signup
- Far more than small landlords need
#8
Zego
Best for: Payments plus resident engagement for multifamily
Visit gozego.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Zego, a Global Payments company formerly known as PayLease, is a property management automation platform focused on payments and the resident experience. Zego Pay offers a modern rent payment app with ACH, cards and digital wallets, automated rent reminders, rental credit reporting and chargeback defense, backed by 24/7 resident support.
What sets Zego apart from pure payment tools is breadth: utility billing and submetering, resident engagement features, and integrations with Yardi, RealPage, Entrata, MRI and other major property management systems. It serves thousands of residential real estate companies and millions of units, squarely in the multifamily and association space.
The catch is the target market. Pricing is custom and quoted through sales, onboarding is a managed process, and the platform is built for operators with portfolios large enough to justify it. A landlord with a handful of units will find the DIY tools on this list simpler and cheaper. For multifamily operators modernizing payments and resident experience, Zego is a serious option.
What we like- Modern rent payment app with many payment methods
- Utility billing and submetering
- Strong integrations with major PMS platforms
Watch out for- Custom pricing only
- Built for multifamily operators, not DIY landlords
- Sales-led onboarding
How we chose
We started from each vendor's pricing page and product documentation, then cross-checked against recent third-party pricing guides that document the vendor figures directly (September to October 2026). A tool had to offer online rent collection to US landlords, be live and available today, and cover buyers from single-unit landlords to multifamily operators. We recorded plan prices and free tiers exactly as documented, including who pays transaction fees, since that changes the real cost. Where pricing was not published, we wrote "See website" rather than guessing. We did not run hands-on trials; this guide reflects documented plans, fees and features as each vendor presents them.
The fee question nobody asks first
The subscription price is only half the cost of rent collection software. The other half is transaction fees, and they vary more than the plans do. ACH transfers are usually cheap or free (free on Apartments.com, $1.50 to $2.49 per transaction on TenantCloud, waived on Avail Plus). Card payments consistently cost 2.75% to 3.5% plus a per-transaction fee, and the key question is who pays: Apartments.com and Avail put card fees on tenants, while Buildium's incoming EFT fees land on the manager.
Model it with your tenant mix
If 80% of your tenants pay by ACH, transaction fees barely matter and you should optimize for the subscription price. If half your tenants pay by card, a platform that passes card fees to tenants can save you hundreds per month, but expect some tenant complaints. Ask each vendor exactly which fees the landlord pays and which the tenant pays before you compare headline prices.
Who actually needs the expensive tier
Most landlords with under 20 units do not need professional management software. Apartments.com, Avail's free plan, TenantCloud Starter or RentRedi cover rent collection, screening and maintenance at little or no cost. The upgrade to Buildium or AppFolio makes sense when you have multiple owners to report to, need trust accounting or 1099 filing, run a maintenance team, or manage hundreds of units where automation pays for itself.
The per-unit trap
Per-unit pricing looks cheap until your portfolio grows. AppFolio at $1.49 per unit is $298 a month at 200 units; Avail Plus at $9 per unit is $1,800. Flat-rate tools like RentRedi and TenantCloud get relatively cheaper as you add doors. Run the math at your current size and your size in two years before you commit to a pricing model.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to collect rent online?
Apartments.com and Avail's Unlimited plan both let landlords collect rent online for free, with ACH payments costing nothing on Apartments.com and tenants paying small per-transaction fees on Avail's free plan. For a flat low fee, TenantCloud starts at $15 per month billed annually and RentRedi at $19.95 per month with unlimited units.
Do tenants pay fees on these platforms?
Sometimes. On Apartments.com, ACH is free for tenants but card payments cost 2.75%. On Avail's free plan, tenants pay $2.50 per ACH transfer and 3.5% for cards. On TenantCloud's lower plans, tenants pay around $1.50 to $1.95 per bank transfer. Always check the fee schedule for the specific plan, because fee placement differs by platform.
How long do online rent payments take to arrive?
It varies. ACH payments typically take two to five business days on most platforms. Avail's paid Plus plan offers next-day payouts through FastPay, and Apartments.com's Express Pay speeds up payments for renters in good standing. Card payments usually settle faster than ACH.
Can tenants pay rent with a credit card?
Yes, every platform here accepts card payments, but the fees are steep: typically 2.75% to 3.5% plus a per-transaction charge. Some platforms pass that fee to the tenant, others charge the landlord. For recurring rent, ACH is almost always the cheaper option for everyone.
Do I need property management software or just rent collection?
If you own a few units and self-manage, rent collection plus screening and maintenance tracking is enough, and the free or flat-rate tools here cover it. You need full property management software (Buildium, AppFolio) when you manage for other owners, need trust accounting and 1099s, or run a team that needs roles, reporting and automation.
What happens if a tenant's payment fails?
Most platforms retry failed payments automatically and notify both sides. Tools with real dunning features send escalating reminders and late fee notices. ACH returns can take several days to surface, so autopay plus automated reminders is the best defense against late rent.
Sources we checked (10)
- https://www.tenantcloud.com/pricing
- https://rentredi.com/pricing
- https://www.buildium.com/pricing/
- https://www.appfolio.com/pricing
- https://www.avail.co/pricing
- https://www.apartments.com/rental-manager/resources/payments/best-way-collect-rent-landlord-apartmentscom-vs-paypal
- https://www.rentcafe.com/
- https://www.gozego.com/
- https://www.tenantcloud.com/review/avail-vs-tenantcloud
- https://lula.life/articles/best-property-management-software
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has spent more than a decade helping SaaS and e-commerce brands grow through search. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.